It all ended up being fine—Sam wasn’t exactly the confident master spy that she seemed on the phone. Instead, she was anxious and awkward, looking away if I made eye contact with her for too long. But she seemed to be more comfortable around her friends, a group of Atypicals and Dr. Bright, who came with their own surprises.

That’s right—Dr. Bright was there too. But that wasn’t the most unexpected part.

Sam was happy to see me, nervously shaking my hand and offering to take my coat, which I declined, wanting the option to peace out of there if things got too weird or intense, and then I walked into the living room to see Dr. Bright sitting with a familiar man on Sam’s couch.

“You know Dr. Bright, of course,” Sam said, leading me into the living room. “And this is my boyfriend, Mark.”

The man on the couch got up to shake my hand and I completely froze.

“Oh my god,” I breathed, taking his hand automatically. “It’s you.”

“Uh, yeah.” He laughed awkwardly and then his face lit up. “Oh, right, we bumped into each other that one time! In Joan’s office—”

“Yes, this is my patient, Rose,” Dr. Bright said, coming to stand next to Mark.

“I’m her little brother,” Mark said, jerking his head toward Dr. Bright. “I don’t make a habit of barging in on her sessions, don’t worry.”

So I was right. The man who had interrupted the end of my session was Dr. Bright’s brother.

But that’s not why I felt like I’d been hit by a truck.

The man from Damien’s nightmares. The one who had been trapped in the basement, who had been lying, dead, in Damien’s arms, was standing in front of me. His hair was cropped short, his face more filled in. He had been sickly and long-haired and supernaturally beautiful in Damien’s dreams, so I hadn’t put two and two together.

Damien had rescued Dr. Bright’s brother from the AM.

Dr. Bright used to work at the AM.

Damien had nightmares about Mark dying.

Mark wasn’t dead, Mark was safe and standing in front of me with his girlfriend.

What the hell had happened between these people?

Maybe I should have left right then. Part of me wishes I didn’t know what I know now.

While I was busy having a total mental breakdown, the front door opened again and two teenage boys piled in. Everything turned even more chaotic as Dr. Bright chastised Sam for pulling this meeting together, when none of us knew what we were even doing here.

“Can someone please tell us what the hell is going on?” the taller of the two boys, Caleb, asked, interrupting the various arguing and introductions that were taking place.